Present Day

Battuk stood on a cliffside, overlooking the lands below. He could see the town of Buttermilk far below him. His army was tending to fires around the camp, or counting gold and putting the riches into piles.

They lived inside a vast collection of treehouses. Giant leather yurts littered the forest floor. Racks of drying meat and piles of bones were next to stone coal pits. Bandits of all races, Elf, Human, Orc, Lion-men, centaur and dwarf. They lived in chaos, fighting over stolen goods, each one of them responsible for their own loot, and required to meet a quota to avoid public punishment.

Battuk’s cabin was in a tall tree, he had a decorative wall display made of bones. A wall of weaponry from golden swords, to war maces. His bed was a large mound of furs and he had a table full of delicious smoked hams, fresh fruits, wine, beer, breads and cheeses.

He looked down at his army of three hundred men, women and magical beings, he smiled. Battuk the Bandit King was always smiling.

He had come a long way, and he was waiting for the perfect time to demonstrate his power.

Soon, when the village of Buttermilk held their festival, he would bring his armies down from the hills to ambush everyone, and take some royals hostage, so he could bargain for more lands, and more horses, and more weapons.

Only a few more weeks until the festival began.

Meanwhile in the town of Buttermilk, Jason was feeding his horse some carrots in his backyard. Stella was sitting on a haybale nearby reading from her new magic book.

“Did you know there are over fifteen types of basic magic, Jason? Light magic, fire magic, ice magic, water. Void magic? Have you heard of that? Draconic-magic, which is dragon magic, lightning, soul-drain… This book is really cool.” Stella said. “I wish I was special.”

“Oh Stella, you are special.” Jason said. “You have a magic smile.” He kissed her on the forehead and then sat down next to her.

“I think you have a magic big nose.” She said laughing at him.

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“Magically handsome nose, maybe.” He said with a tender smile.

“No, a big one.” She said, tapping him on the nose. He kissed her softly, she kissed him back.

She kept reading from her book.

“I want to try a spell.” She said. She sat up and Jason sat up next to her.

“Let’s try one together.”

“Easy one.” She said.

“Nah, start with a hard one, did you say Void magic?” Jason said, leaning over her shoulder. “Let us open a portal to another dimension!” This made her laugh.

“You’re cute, but maybe. What if we try something like fire?” Stella said. “Here, I found it. It’s in Chapter five. Give me one minute.” Stella flicked through the book until she landed on the page. “I like the pictures.” She said.

The magic book had a picture of a young man with a goatee and a short haircut. He was dressed in a red shirt and red pants. He was punching and fire was coming from his hand.

“What’s the magic word?” Jason asked. Stella rolled her eyes and cleared her throat to speak.

“The fireball is conjured by imagining a fire. Then with a large amount of concentration, you can summon a fire bolt with enough power to stumble an attacker, and set them alight. You simply punch in the air, aiming at your target.”

“That sounds good.” Jason said. “Go on then Arcane Stella.” He joked with a sly smile.

Stella thought about her fireplace at home, when she was young and touched a hot burning log by accident. She concentrated on the heat and remembered what it felt like. She punched in the air and nothing happened. She looked over and saw that Jason was staring at her with loving eyes.

“Okay, your turn, mate.” She said, tapping him on the shoulder.

“So what do I do? Think of fire and punch?”

“Imagine fire.”

“Okay, got this. Watch me set that tree on fire.” Jason aimed his fist at a tree and laughed. There was no way Jason was a wizard. “So I think of fire. Ok.” Jason had spent his life around fire, the campfires with his friends from town after school, the forges of the furnace at his home, the fire of his cooking stove.

Jason pictured a fire burning brightly inside his furnace. He punched at the tree and sparks flew out of his knuckles.

Things moved in slow motion as Jason watched the sparks turn into a fiery rock. The meteor made of fire flew towards the tree and splintered the bark. It went deeper into the tree and then exploded. The tree was shredded into bark, leaves, wood and all of it was on fire.

Jason looked at Stella.

“Holy fuck.” He said, and then started laughing.

“What the fuck!?” Stella shouted.